Wrecked car sends message: Don’t drive distracted

Administrators and staff decided to take on a different kind of approach in their efforts to raise teen awareness on the dangers of distracted driving this spring.

On May 12, the school brought out a car that had been wrecked in a collision involving a drunk driver and parked it right outside of the courtyard.

“I’ve always been aware of the dangers of drunk driving or even texting while driving, but actually seeing the car and the damage that it sustained in an accident involving distracted drivers made it more real,” sophomore Xiomara Ortiz said. “It almost made me a little anxious to get on the road.”

According to Principal Thomas, the main reason the damaged car was brought onto the property and displayed in a place that made it visible to the entire school was to elicit a kind of “wow, this could happen to me” reaction because in actuality, it just might.

Teens between the ages of 16 and 17 are most at risk when it comes to fatal car accidents, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the school’s commission of the car proved to be a creative and innovative way to convey how significant being aware of one’s own surroundings is, not only around school or in your home but also behind the wheel.

“I feel like too many good people have had their lives taken away from them much too soon because someone was oblivious to what was going on around them,” said a sophomore who did not wish to be identified. “It’s those easily avoidable mistakes that make all the difference between being able to talk with your best friend or having to attend another funeral.”